Ol' Doug Moe coached the Nuggets' last 11-game win streak, and sure enough, Moe was at the Pepsi Center on Friday, so he was asked for his memories of such a momentous and stupendous accomplishment.

"None," he said.

That's how long ago it was.

In fact, it was 30 years to the day — March 15, 1983 — when the Nuggets won their 11th consecutive game, and this season's Nuggets tied the second-longest streak in franchise history Friday night. Denver knocked off budding rival Memphis 87-80 on a night when it played Memphis-like defense, holding the Grizzlies to 35.3 percent shooting from the field.

"It's a man's win," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "A win that took a lot of courage and mental toughness. Maybe it took us until the fourth to find the flow of the game, but that's the way it's going to be against Memphis. ... The mental aspect of winning this game is a big step."

The franchise's longest winning streak is 12 games, which happened in 1982 when they went undefeated from March 10 to April 2 (and included three overtime games).

The building was buzzing. It was clearly a late-April atmosphere in mid-March. One could argue that the only time the building was as loud was when Denver beat Oklahoma City on the Ty Lawson buzzer-beater.

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And this win was similarly big, if not even bigger, because Denver snatched the tiebreaker with the Grizzlies (3-1) — and it already has it with the Clippers.

With the win, the Nuggets have a smokin' home record of 30-3, heading into a tough road back-to-back at Chicago and Oklahoma City. Denver is now just a half-game behind No. 3 seeded Memphis and the No. 4 L.A. Clippers.

In a big game against big bigs, Denver big Kosta Koufos was, yep, big. Koufos averages 8.3 points per game, but the Greek national team center scored 18 points, leading to numerous "opah!" opportunities for Nuggets broadcaster Chris Marlowe. Koufos also scored a tough lay-in, while being fouled, with 6:23 left in the game, giving Denver a three-point lead and sending the crowd into a Friday frenzy. In addition, Koufos finished with 16 rebounds, a career high in one of the biggest games of his own career.

"Kosta stays underneath the defense, and (the Grizzlies) help so much on defense under the basket, he fell into a lot of tip-ins and offensive rebounds," Karl said. "He's also clever when we penetrate. He's just smart and solid. It's just fun watching him get better every week."

Two of the game's biggest plays — and top-popping Pepsi Center ovations — came courtesy of Dre dunks. Andre Iguodala caught an Andre Miller alley-oop in the fourth to give Denver a 67-66 lead, after Denver had climbed back from a deficit. And then, with 50.2 ticks left, Iguodala scooped up a loose ball for a breakaway dunk, producing an 86-80 lead.

How about Dre's day? The defensive stud also tallied eight points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

"I understand why George Karl would love a guy like that," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said, "because he gives it all he has every time he is on the court."

Denver led 48-47 at the half, which seemed to be a good omen, since the Nuggets, of late, had fared well in third quarters. Not Friday. Denver scored just 10 points to the Grizzlies' 19, and Denver trailed 66-58 heading into the pivotal fourth quarter.

"We didn't play well in the third quarter," Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari said, "but we did a good job in the fourth at not letting them rebound the ball."

What you might have missedKenneth Faried finished with just four boards in 19 minutes (due to foul trouble), but two came on the same play — both offensive rebounds in the second quarter, the second leading to a mammoth dunk. ... Marc Gasol, the Memphis big man, had just two second-half points. ... The Grizzlies' bench scored only 18 points. Denver's bench had 30.

Lockheed says object part of 'sensor technology' testing that ended ThursdayWhat the heck is that thing? It's fair to assume that question was on the minds of many people who traveled along Colo. 128 south of Boulder this week if they happened to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a large, silver projectile perched alongside the highway and pointed north toward town.

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